Some Reviews of The 56th Man
5.0 out of 5 starsExcellent! Whodunit that forces you to think!
ByPatriciaon August 2, 2013
Format: Kindle Edition|Verified Purchase
This book was top of the line albeit sometimes its message was a tad uncomfortable. It involves two timelines, one detailing protagonist Ari's (let's call him that) life in wartime Iraq and one covering his work in the US, having been brought over to work for CENTCOM (the US Central Command}. He is moved into a house in Richmond, VA, given a minimum allowance and a computer (monitored by the US Marshall's Service), a desk, a table and a a few chairs. His job is to go through photos of people committing atrocities and identify the perpetrators and if possible, the victims, too. His background in Saddam's Special Security Force and his near photographic memory make him especially suited to this job. Since all the people he can identify can also identify him and aptly consider him a serious threat, they have done their best to do away with him, hence the quick transfer to the US, where he is "safer."
On moving into the Richmond house he learns that a family of four including two children was murdered there a few months previously and that amazingly little has been done to track down the killer or killers. Ari is exceedingly well trained, excels as an investigator, and he is curious. When he digs up a drug dealing thread and follows it, he becomes a target once again, this time being hunted by Americans.
In the meantime, Ari keeps seeing parallels between democracy in the US, peppered with do's and don'ts and subtle ways of coercing adherence, and the autocratic dictatorship in Iraq with its much more direct and brutal response to deviants. The book was wonderful but scary! It certainly deserves to be read!
ByPatriciaon August 2, 2013
Format: Kindle Edition|Verified Purchase
This book was top of the line albeit sometimes its message was a tad uncomfortable. It involves two timelines, one detailing protagonist Ari's (let's call him that) life in wartime Iraq and one covering his work in the US, having been brought over to work for CENTCOM (the US Central Command}. He is moved into a house in Richmond, VA, given a minimum allowance and a computer (monitored by the US Marshall's Service), a desk, a table and a a few chairs. His job is to go through photos of people committing atrocities and identify the perpetrators and if possible, the victims, too. His background in Saddam's Special Security Force and his near photographic memory make him especially suited to this job. Since all the people he can identify can also identify him and aptly consider him a serious threat, they have done their best to do away with him, hence the quick transfer to the US, where he is "safer."
On moving into the Richmond house he learns that a family of four including two children was murdered there a few months previously and that amazingly little has been done to track down the killer or killers. Ari is exceedingly well trained, excels as an investigator, and he is curious. When he digs up a drug dealing thread and follows it, he becomes a target once again, this time being hunted by Americans.
In the meantime, Ari keeps seeing parallels between democracy in the US, peppered with do's and don'ts and subtle ways of coercing adherence, and the autocratic dictatorship in Iraq with its much more direct and brutal response to deviants. The book was wonderful but scary! It certainly deserves to be read!
5.0 out of 5 starsWow!
ByG. Breakon June 17, 2016
Format: Kindle Edition|Verified Purchase
This book follows an Iraqi operative after the U.S. places him in the U.S. It tells about his life in Iraq before the U.S. occupation and after.
The reader is never quite sure of the character's real goal .
Layered into the main character's story is a murder mystery.
The language is salty but appropriate.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading and learning from this book.
ByG. Breakon June 17, 2016
Format: Kindle Edition|Verified Purchase
This book follows an Iraqi operative after the U.S. places him in the U.S. It tells about his life in Iraq before the U.S. occupation and after.
The reader is never quite sure of the character's real goal .
Layered into the main character's story is a murder mystery.
The language is salty but appropriate.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading and learning from this book.
5.0 out of 5 starsCompelling and tragic protaganist
ByPrescott Harshmanon August 5, 2013
Format: Kindle Edition|Verified Purchase
This story tells of a man who had lost everything of his prior life but carries on. I enjoyed the twists of the plot the got him involved with a criminal police officer and the resolution. Flashbacks to his former life were the best part of the story.
ByPrescott Harshmanon August 5, 2013
Format: Kindle Edition|Verified Purchase
This story tells of a man who had lost everything of his prior life but carries on. I enjoyed the twists of the plot the got him involved with a criminal police officer and the resolution. Flashbacks to his former life were the best part of the story.
Good read
ByDon Eilenbergeron August 26, 2013
Format: Kindle Edition|Verified Purchase
Reading the 56th Man (you'll have to read it to figure out why that's the title), it quickly became evident the book was written by someone with great writing skills (plot, location, character development) and with experience in the international mid-east scene. The plot was believeable, the setting and characters were well developed, and it was obvious someone took care editing the book.
ByDon Eilenbergeron August 26, 2013
Format: Kindle Edition|Verified Purchase
Reading the 56th Man (you'll have to read it to figure out why that's the title), it quickly became evident the book was written by someone with great writing skills (plot, location, character development) and with experience in the international mid-east scene. The plot was believeable, the setting and characters were well developed, and it was obvious someone took care editing the book.
Some Reviews of The Godless One
5.0 out of 5 starsTender, strikingly appealing, rich and raw.
November 6, 2013Format: Kindle Edition|Verified Purchase
This had better be one more in a long series of Ari Ciminon books. Likely I will have to wait because a book like this cannot be written quickly I'm sure. There is a beautiful complexity in the unfolding of the story as well as the characters. Perfection in the details that bring the characters to life will keep me coming back to this author. I'm actually shocked to be so entertained, no, enchanted, by a book with such raw emotion. Come back Ari! I'll be waiting for you.
November 6, 2013Format: Kindle Edition|Verified Purchase
This had better be one more in a long series of Ari Ciminon books. Likely I will have to wait because a book like this cannot be written quickly I'm sure. There is a beautiful complexity in the unfolding of the story as well as the characters. Perfection in the details that bring the characters to life will keep me coming back to this author. I'm actually shocked to be so entertained, no, enchanted, by a book with such raw emotion. Come back Ari! I'll be waiting for you.
5.0 out of 5 starsSecond book by author
September 23, 2016Format: Kindle Edition|Verified Purchase
I read the first book and was so intrigued by Ari I bought the second..It is eye opening g to see ourselves through another person's eyes..As for Ari I like him and then I don't like him and t when I change my mind again..the plots are a little convoluted but getting in Ari's head is worth it..Going to buy book 3.
September 23, 2016Format: Kindle Edition|Verified Purchase
I read the first book and was so intrigued by Ari I bought the second..It is eye opening g to see ourselves through another person's eyes..As for Ari I like him and then I don't like him and t when I change my mind again..the plots are a little convoluted but getting in Ari's head is worth it..Going to buy book 3.
Some Reviews of At the Midway
5.0 out of 5 starsDinosaurs & Battleships
April 8, 2014Format: Kindle Edition|Verified Purchase
"At the Midway" is a well written and exciting adventure story very much in the tradition of Edgar Rice Burroughs, with touches of Melville, Wouk and Stephen Jay Gould. Rogers takes the motif of the sea serpent and postulates it as a survival from the past, one which has survived the vagaries of evolution, uncounted predators and even the asteroid that brought about the demise of the larger dinosaurs; as fitted as the creatures might be for survival, however, they may not do so well against the Age of Steam.
Rogers brings to this novel a sense of history, both prehistoric and recent, as well as in-depth knowledge about life in the US Navy and on whaling vessels in the early part of the Twentieth Century. Through some very expertly drawn characters, the author weaves multiple plot-lines that intersect at Midway Island, where the Navy (and Marines) encounter a group of three fearsome creatures. Along the way, Rogers has his characters the equally destructive monsters of ignorance and racial hatred.
The action of the novel is intense, and so are the conflicts between the characters, especially the Whites and Blacks serving on the same navy ship. In addition to an examination of man's effect upon nature, it's a look at men of several races serving together, usually not in harmony, with some of them striving to achieve what the Captain termed "amity." This was under President Theodore Roosevelt, who makes a brief appearance at the beginning of the book, and the student of history will certainly be motivated to wonder what strides toward "amity" could have been taken in the melting pot of the military where sailors and soldiers face equal danger, had not the military been segregated by Wilson.
April 8, 2014Format: Kindle Edition|Verified Purchase
"At the Midway" is a well written and exciting adventure story very much in the tradition of Edgar Rice Burroughs, with touches of Melville, Wouk and Stephen Jay Gould. Rogers takes the motif of the sea serpent and postulates it as a survival from the past, one which has survived the vagaries of evolution, uncounted predators and even the asteroid that brought about the demise of the larger dinosaurs; as fitted as the creatures might be for survival, however, they may not do so well against the Age of Steam.
Rogers brings to this novel a sense of history, both prehistoric and recent, as well as in-depth knowledge about life in the US Navy and on whaling vessels in the early part of the Twentieth Century. Through some very expertly drawn characters, the author weaves multiple plot-lines that intersect at Midway Island, where the Navy (and Marines) encounter a group of three fearsome creatures. Along the way, Rogers has his characters the equally destructive monsters of ignorance and racial hatred.
The action of the novel is intense, and so are the conflicts between the characters, especially the Whites and Blacks serving on the same navy ship. In addition to an examination of man's effect upon nature, it's a look at men of several races serving together, usually not in harmony, with some of them striving to achieve what the Captain termed "amity." This was under President Theodore Roosevelt, who makes a brief appearance at the beginning of the book, and the student of history will certainly be motivated to wonder what strides toward "amity" could have been taken in the melting pot of the military where sailors and soldiers face equal danger, had not the military been segregated by Wilson.
5.0 out of 5 starsBuilds slowly to nail biting goodness!!
April 14, 2013Format: Kindle Edition|Verified Purchase
Wow ... details. I felt as though I were back in time and on that ship, fighting for my life. J. Clayton Rogers brings pages to life. Who needs a movie? But speaking of them, this would make an excellent one. Loved this book. Not my all time favorite of his, I'd say this is fourth or third ... so far. Favorite being "The 56th man", second "The Mandarine Crew" ...
this is fighting with "Mismatched", lol.
Excellent, don't miss this book!
April 14, 2013Format: Kindle Edition|Verified Purchase
Wow ... details. I felt as though I were back in time and on that ship, fighting for my life. J. Clayton Rogers brings pages to life. Who needs a movie? But speaking of them, this would make an excellent one. Loved this book. Not my all time favorite of his, I'd say this is fourth or third ... so far. Favorite being "The 56th man", second "The Mandarine Crew" ...
this is fighting with "Mismatched", lol.
Excellent, don't miss this book!